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Emma Donoghue with her book Room. AP Photo/Sang Tan
Big screen
Lenny Abrahamson to direct film adaptation of bestselling novel Room
Emma Donoghue’s novel Room was nominated for the Man Booker prize and has sold more than two and a half million copies.
DUBLIN DIRECTOR LENNY Abrahamson is to direct the film adaptation of the bestselling novel Room by Emma Donoghue.
Donoghue, who was born in Dublin but now lives in Canada, has also written the script for the film.
The writer said that Abrahamson sent her a ten-page letter before he was picked to direct the film, describing in detail how he wanted to translate the story onto the big screen, which, she said, helped to win her over.
The book tells the story of Jack, a 5-year-old boy growing up in a tiny shed – which he believes to be his entire world – with his mother, who has shielded him from the truth of why they are really being held there.
Room was nominated for the Man Booker prize and has sold more than two and a half million copies.
Abrahamson, who directed What Richard Did, Adam & Paul and Garage, said the book was extraordinary: “Deeply original, harrowing, full of moments of almost unbearable tension, but also – and this is what is so special about it – profoundly life-affirming”.
Abrahamson is currently putting the finishing touches on his film Frank, starring Michael Fassbender, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Domhnall Gleeson. Production on Room is expected to begin in the coming months.
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